Former Irish Ryder Cup golfer Eamonn Darcy is calling for immediate player representation on the Ryder Cup committee, in the wake of the sacking of Miguel Angel Martin from the team to take on America in Spain this Friday.

Darcy, speaking at the completion to his final round in Sunday's British Masters at Coventry, said the entire handling of the Spaniard's dumping by the committee has been a disaster.

"I don't think the guy would have played, but you just don't pull him out of the team," said Darcy.

"He qualified rightly for the side and if it had been Monty, or any of the boys, they would have given them until Friday morning and I'm sure Martin would agree with you."

Darcy is also uncertain whether the controversy will have died down sufficiently before the cup starts at Valderrama on Friday. "I just honestly don't know, but I do know that we have to start looking at the guys who pulled Martin out of the team," Darcy said.

A tournament players' committee meeting, conducted at the Forest of Arden course last Wednesday, unamimously agreed Martin was treated unfairly, a view that Darcy, a 27-year European Tour veteran, fully supports.

And Darcy has a word of advice for the hierarchy of the European tour, along with his suggestion that tour rank-and-file players be personally represented on future Ryder Cup committees. "I think the power has to start going back a bit more towards the players. I think there are too many guys too far away from the players who are making decisions," he said. "The tournament committee is right in touch with what is happening because they're all players, and this routine matter is a perfect example, so player represention on the committee has to happen now, especially after what's happened here. With the cup commencement just four days away, Darcy believes if Europe is to retain the prize, it is important Ballesteros, as captain, gets the pairings right.

It's also important, Darcy believes, that the Valderrama course is set up the right way, which means not to the Americans liking. "The Americans are going to love the course, so much so you could drop it into the American Tour," he said.

With Darren Clarke, Ireland's sole representative in the Ryder Cup, leaving for Spain later today, Darcy's best advice to his fellow countryman is "to keep as level as you can". "If you let it get over your head, you're gone, especially with the way the media has bumped it up," said Darcy. He also indicated that he and Clarke had intended sitting down at last week's Lancome Trophy in Paris to talk about the Cup, though the pair were never able to get together. "Darren's strength is his power and he also has a great short game," said Darcy. "Any weaknesses he's had are gone now. He used to be an average chipper but I think he is quite good at it now. He's a solid player and if he could have a bit of luck because that is important too.

"But I think Darren will be okay and his appearance in the cup has not come too early, definitely not," he added. "It would have been too early for Padraig Harrington, but saying that, he's still a good player, one that I wouldn't like to play in matchplay because he is so good around the greens.

"But even though Padraig didn't make the side this time around, his time will definitely come and he'll be a hell of a match player as well."

Darcy, who made his Ryder Cup debut at Laurel Valley in Pennsylvania in 1975 and has played four cup encounters, said the hype leading into this year's encounter is over-the-top compared to the matches he competed in. "The hype was up when I played in 1987 because I was lying in ninth spot for nine weeks, but nothing like that has been created this year," he said.

"But aside from the hype, I think it is important that all the guys rally around the younger players, and hopefully Seve doesn't get it too wrong but you know what Seve can be like," Darcy said , referring to the enormous emotion Ballesteros so often exhibits.